


Growing up and moving on

by Lotophagia



Category: Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushuu | EarthBound, Mother 3
Genre: Character Study, Depression, Multi, Next Generation, Post-Canon, brief mention of infant death, endgame spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-29
Updated: 2014-11-12
Packaged: 2018-02-23 01:44:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2529425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lotophagia/pseuds/Lotophagia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the War against Giygas, it's time for the four chosen kids to build their lives and find a place in the world they've saved. Some have an easier time than others, but the bonds they've shared always seem to pull them through.</p><p>It's not all good or all bad, but it's THERE, and that's enough to make anyone happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Captain

When the war ended, Paula was the first to declare that she was ready to just be a normal girl again. And for the next few years that was exactly what happened as she continued with her studies and volunteered at her mother’s preschool. But Paula was also a girl with boundless empathy, a keen mind even without psychic powers, and faith strong enough to breach dimensions. She couldn’t forget how good it had felt to help people, using her powers to ease suffering and drive away the corruption of the world.

Still, it came as a surprise to everyone but Ness when she chose to enroll into Eagleland Police Academy.

Passing her classes was a simple matter, even with a few roadblocks. Theoretical studies and understanding all the paperwork she would need was a snap, and conflict resolution was child’s play to someone with her telepathic and empathetic ability. She couldn’t help but feel like that was cheating, just a bit, but no one thought much of it beyond an uncanny ability to ‘read’ people and if it kept situations from escalating she could hardly complain.

Fitness training and self-defense was more difficult, mainly because Paula had been so used to casting PSI attacks and strength boosts that relying on physical ability was disorienting. But after a few weeks she found that it just made the feeling of throwing a sparring partner to the mat (or being thrown to it herself) all the more satisfying. As for learning how to use firearms, though... Well. There was pummeling sentient taxis and cosmic horrors with a frying pan, and then there was coming to terms with the fact that one day you may have to shoot an angry, non-possessed criminal before they shoot you.

It took many late nights at the gym and shooting range to get past that barrier, along with occasional lessons from Jeff and pep talks from her now-boyfriend Ness, but eventually Paula was able to pull herself up to an acceptable skill level and pass her exams. And after six more months of field training, Officer Paula was sworn into Onett’s police force.

Onett itself had grown considerably after the War, though still the smallest of Eagleland’s four main cities, and even with the Sharks disbanded there were enough disturbances for all the road closings to actually have a purpose. After those brief times she visited Ness’ hometown as a child the change was a little disconcerting, but didn’t stop Paula from doing her job and keeping the peace. Her open nature made her well liked by civilians and her fellow officers, and a solid record impressed Captain Strong and earned her several commendations. She and Ness rented an apartment (though it was more her renting an apartment while Ness focused on his studies), and for a while it seemed like maybe they would have a quiet life after all.

When Captain Strong called her to his office, asking if she was willing to accept a transfer request to Fourside PD, Paula had no idea how to respond. The city had always made her uncomfortable after what the media referred to as the “Monotoli Incident,” and it meant moving away from the support of friends and family. But within a night she started feeling that itch again, the reminder that her powers and training could be for small threats as well as large. She accepted the transfer, and after a hurried search for the nearest jewelry store, asked Ness if he would join her.

Their wedding was nothing more than a small ceremony held the day before they moved out of Onett, but news stations nevertheless exploded with sightings of Dr. Jeffery Andonuts and the Dalaam Royal Family.

\-----------

Fourside was not as bad as Paula had expected, but there was still a roughness and lack of respect for the badge that had persisted after the Monotoli Incident. Fourside PD wasn’t much better, and they certainly weren’t keen on a ‘sweetheart country girl’ coming in to upstage them. Ms. Polestar’s initiation, they decided, would be sending her to try and break up one of the city’s toughest teen gangs from wreaking havoc at the department store and ‘forgetting’ to send along backup.

They laughed at themselves, expecting her to radio in sobbing within ten minutes.

After two hours, some of the more senior officers were confused and worried at the lack of response. When one finally checked in at the department store he saw Paula at the food court, sharing a plate of fries with the gang’s top members and talking about how she and her friends had once saved Threed from sentient piles of puke.

The police department stopped hazing new members after that, though Paula took a certain satisfaction in freezing that officer’s coffee every time she walked past his desk.

\-----------

The first time Officer Polestar killed a man was something that would haunt her for the rest of her life. Everyone agreed that it was justified and even necessary, a hostage situation against a serial kidnapper with his gun to a young girl’s head. He had stepped back a split second before Paula fired, and a shot meant to disarm instead went straight through his chest. Even the girl’s relief and gratitude couldn’t stop the psychic feedback, the sensation of suffocating on one’s own blood that reminded Paula of countless battles and that last, desperate prayer into the darkness so many years ago.

It took about six months to return to the force, though paid leave and proper counseling took some of the sting away and the support of her family helped with the rest. Paula took some of this time to reconnect with her friends and old allies, and spent long days walking through the park with her husband and their daughter Madison. By the end of the year, Paula was more determined than ever to build a good, happy life for her family and the city she had come to love.

\-----------

A couple years later, Police Corporal Polestar of FPD Central realized that the fire she and her team were investigating was PSI-based. With no physical leads and no way to properly explain it to her team, she couldn’t have been more grateful for their trust as they ventured into the half-demolished building. They found a stairway to the upper levels, where the CSI people had declared to be too unstable to explore, but the only place the fire could have started based on process of elimination.

There, everyone but Paula was shocked to find a young boy unconscious and unharmed amid the wreckage. It was discovered that his parents had been victims of the Mani Mani statue during the Monotoli Incident, and the latent powers passed down to him became pyrokinesis after some ‘friends’ had locked him inside the warehouse as a prank.

The resulting case, and the official reveal of Paula’s abilities, left Fourside’s Police Commissioner apprehensive. If rumors started that the police were using PSI abilities to control the public (and they would, and they did; Corporal Polestar had helped bring some control to her department but it wasn’t enough) there would be huge outcries and protests. It was almost enough to have him discharge Paula on the spot. But the thought of lawsuits, and the loss of image they would suffer for firing one of the children who saved the world all those years ago, managed to stay his hand. He soon realized it was the right decision, as Paula stepped up to the plate and became an important link between the public and law enforcement.

Ness brought up the possibility of selling their story, and Paula hesitated for a long time. It would mean the end of their little peace, the end of pretending to be normal folks living normal lives. But then she thought of Madison already drawing tomorrow’s events in her sketchbook like Paula herself had done as a child, and that boy in the warehouse who had no one to support and teach him.

She agreed to sell their story, less for the money and more for all the children who would no longer feel lost and alone, and before long the attention died down enough for them to have normal lives after all… or as normal as a family of psychics could be.

\-----------

When Dr. Andonuts went missing, Captain Polestar of FPD Central had already been hard at work, looking for some kind of link between unexplained kidnappings over the years. There was only so much a single department could accomplish, even with her at the helm, but it started a rallying cry that brought the entire world sharing stories of strange disappearances and unusual sights, of psychic rifts through time and space.

It was a huge undertaking, even for former saviors of the world. It meant long nights on very little sleep, and after a month even the Instant Revitalizing Machine was nothing more than a way to keep Paula’s frazzled mind in check. She was never more grateful for Ness’s presence as she was then, working around her erratic sleeping habits and always having a steak dinner ready on those rare days where they could all eat as a family.

Paula began to have nightmares. Sometimes she would be a child again, praying desperately against that god-awful storm of rage and insanity, waiting for a response that never came. Sometimes she would watch helplessly as everything important in her life – her husband, her daughter, her world – was crushed beneath the feet of an aged yet familiar figure, leaving her to grieve over the life she’d never see again.

Sometimes she dreamed of sunflowers, and a hill where a young boy - no, two of them - stood in front of seven glowing spikes.

As she ran towards them, the boys split up, taking turns to grab hold of the spikes one by one. They vanished as soon as they were touched, and a roar started in Paula's ears that grew louder and louder with every spike pulled, great and terrible and she didn't know whether she was running to stop them or help them and she was too far away regardless and-

That dream was always the worst of the lot, causing Paula to wake up shaking and sweaty. She fumbled until she could feel Ness' hand in the darkness, and would cling to it like a lifeline in a freezing ocean. It was the worst of them because deep down she knew it wasn't a dream at all, but a reminder that someday everything they cared about would come to an end.

And then Ness would stir, turning to smile at her in the faint glow of their digital clock, and Madison would run into the room having been woken up by her mother’s fear.

And they held each other until the dawn as a reminder that here and now, they were alive, and they were happy.

And when the victims began to return home, she was there with the others to help Jeff reunite with his father.


	2. The Genius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this is the darkest of the four chapters, and deals the most with depression/codependent relationships. It gets a good ending regardless, but it's still there, so if such things are upsetting it may be worth skipping to the next chapter when it gets posted.

Studying under Dr. Andonuts – no, his father – was exactly what Jeff had expected and nothing like it at the same time.

The awkwardness was a given. The doctor had probably interacted with more people during the course of the War than he had in the past decade, Jeff wasn’t exactly a social person himself, and while they had begun to patch things up there was still a lot of tension between them. It didn’t help that they shared many of the same personality traits, right down to forgetting the other was still in the room, but eventually the pair worked out that they could have their meals in the same room together for socializing AND remembering to eat all at once.

It was during one of those meals that Dr. Andonuts asked Jeff when he was returning to Snow Wood. Such an innocent-yet-thoughtless question would have caused his son to take offence just a few months ago, but then and there… Jeff realized how much he missed the boarding house, and started to tell his father as much.

He missed the routine. He missed the presence of other people, just being around them if not actually talking or enjoying their company. He missed his old workbench, with the scorch marks and stains from beakers and coffee mugs alike. And he missed Tony.

But Jeff was also afraid. Afraid that his friend – no, his boyfriend, they had confirmed as much after the battle at Stonehenge – would hate him for leaving, this time without even saying goodbye. Afraid of how the staff would have excused his absence, what new rumors he’d have to come back and hear. Afraid of the dark thoughts that had been crowding in his head, and afraid of visions of monsters and aliens and a scream that tore through his soul.

Afraid that he had abandoned the person he loved most, just like his father had abandoned him.

Dr. Andonuts had to stop and process all this, watching his assistant – no, his son – cry openly for a good few minutes. Then, awkwardly, he took Jeff’s hand and assured him that reconciling after five months may be a better option than fixing a relationship that had been nonexistent for ten years.

And that Christmas, for the first time since he had arrived at Snow Wood and met the roommate who stood by him all his life, Jeff was the one to invite Tony over for holidays.

\-----------

Sure enough, Jeff started hearing the rumors of his disappearance before he even unpacked his suitcase. Even the teachers seemed to repeat them; that he had finally snapped, been committed to an asylum, that HE had been the one behind the kidnappings. Even if they knew about his role fighting in the War against Giygas, Jeff doubted it would have changed a thing, but the fact that Tony and Maxwell were even partially aware of the truth managed to soften the blow.

Still, those last five years of school were the most difficult of Jeff’s life.

\-----------

It wasn’t the rumors, or the worries of what could be, but the memories of what had been. It was stopping for a second to shudder, as a classmate casually brought up how _happy_ they were to get through midterms. It was waking up in the middle of the night, seeing the neon glow of his alarm clock, and being thrust back into that nonsensical world where even his own mind couldn’t be trusted. It was looking up from his studies and realizing Tony was gone, not able to stop panicking until the taller boy was back from the lavatory. 

It was feeling like an ant among gods when Ness and the others stopped by to visit, no matter what they did to assure Jeff that he had been important, a valuable member of the team, that his inventions had saved their lives…

And then remembering that to everyone else, his intelligence made him a threat. Mad. A broken genius, just like his father. So he may as well act like it.

\-----------

They would later call it the Dark Time, those years when Tony became Jeff’s sole point of human contact. Jeff spent more time out of class, had even fewer peaceful rests, weapons built and tested and repaired in case the Starmen ever returned, but they wouldn’t return, but what if they DID?

Meanwhile it was Tony who kept track of Jeff’s exams, Tony who ruffled the sheets on Jeff’s bed so the staff would think it had been slept in, Tony who fought off any bullies or gossip that could conceivably harm his boyfriend. But the days became months became two years, and even Tony’s seemingly endless patience was running out. That was when the fights started, loud ones that nevertheless convinced Jeff that Tony was the only one who saw, who cared, who gave him a chance at being normal.

On a late August night, though, Tony had had enough. He declared Jeff’s uselessness to his face, called him ungrateful, and stated that maybe he shouldn’t have been rescued from Stonehenge after all if THIS was what resulted from it. Tony was right, of course, he was always right, it was all Jeff could do to hang onto his words and he didn’t even deserve to do that.

In the silence that followed, Jeff forgot about the overheating shield generator on his workbench until it was too late.

Tony was far enough away to only have a scrape or two. Jeff suffered hearing loss and lacerations on his left side, and on getting out of the hospital wing didn’t talk to anyone or anything anymore. He didn’t deserve to.

\-----------

Tony was horrified at what he had become, at the fact that he could hurt someone he loved in such a terrible manner, at the inability to tell what thoughts were his own and what were a result of… whatever Giygas had done to him, two years ago and miles underground. He started seeing the school councilor, and while Tony couldn’t explain everything that had happened, the talks were enough to help him see that he had been enabling Jeff’s Dark Time instead of saving him from it.

Slowly, with the help of some frantic long-distance calls to Eagleland, Tony and the few of Jeff’s friends who had kept their faith managed to convince Jeff to seek help. It took five months just to get him into a doctor’s office, but as time passed and Jeff cycled through therapists and medications he started to feel like a human again.

By the time they were eighteen, graduated, the gates of the boarding house closing behind them for the last time, Tony and Jeff had each other at their side and nothing standing in their way.

The worst was over, and the world was ahead.

\-----------

Five became an important number for Jeff. Five years after graduating, he broke away from his father’s research and started up Edisnoom Labs (an in-joke that Tony never really got, but it seemed to make Jeff chuckle and that was all that mattered). Tony had switched his career path from Social Work to Business after the Dark Time, and his help with setting up funding and proper investments managed to make Jeff feel less guilty about his role in driving away his boyfriend’s old dream.

Five years after the lab’s opening, Jeff and his psychiatrist agreed that there had been a lot of progress made, enough for him to start easing off his medication.

Five more months, and Jeff’s head was clear enough to remember that he and Tony weren’t actually married yet. And at five pm on the fifth of May, they went from boyfriends to husbands.

\-----------

When his father went missing, the stress of trying to track him down and the guilt of all the things still not resolved between them was almost enough to pull Jeff back into another Dark Time. And if Jeff had been alone, maybe it would have been enough, but now he had Tony trading off shifts with him on the monitors and an entire lab compiling data and the full force of international law behind him.

And of course, he had his friends, the three friends who always believed in him and stood by him no matter what.

It was Poo (King Puushhadantabhide, officially, but to them he had always been Poo) who offered the most support, to Jeff’s surprise. He knew the pain of losing family and the importance of grieving, and offered them a stay at his palace for a month or two. Jeff refused at first, not wanting to be a burden, but Poo brought up how long it had been since they had really talked, and oh he had to see how the twins had grown, and there really wasn’t any better place to study PSI than Dalaam which was appropriate considering the cause of the rifts, and did you and Tony ever go on that honeymoon you were talking about?

Eventually Jeff had to give in with a smile, realizing that at long last, he knew that he wasn’t alone.

The plan had been to spend a few days gathering data and letting it compile for the rest of the trip, but the instant Jeff saw the wonder on Tony’s face as they touched down on an island floating in midair any thoughts of research vanished.

For five weeks they wandered among the clouds, enjoying Dalaamese cuisine that tasted much better than Jeff remembered eating as a child, watching processions of musicians and dancers and animals during the summer festival, teaching the royal twins how to fire off bottle rockets and colourful smoke bombs (provided they never, EVER, told their father how said items were acquired). In the evenings Jeff and Poo would have long talks over a shared pot of tea, and then go their separate ways; the king to his wife’s side, and Jeff to his husband’s.

After one final breakfast of rice and eggs, and a grateful farewell, Jeff and Tony returned home with their bodies and souls rested, ready to do whatever it took to rescue everyone. For here and now, they were alive, and there was nothing the two of them couldn’t achieve when they were together.

\-----------

And when he reached the energy spike at the shores of Lake Tess, seeing the portal open and his father step out with a strange capsule pod in tow, Jeff Andonuts felt… happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was probably the toughest of the four to plan out. Mental illness and relationship troubles are a tough thing to discuss, and I only hope that I could do it some justice here.


	3. The King

In a way, Prince Puushhadantabhide (Poo for short, but only to those in his homeland who didn’t know the implications, or the friends from Eagleland and Foggyland who couldn’t have hoped to pronounce his full name at thirteen years old) was true to his word. He had every intention to return to Dalaam and use his new powers and knowledge to become a capable ruler. He had passed his Mu training, mastered the Starstorm, conquered evil itself, and thought this made him ready to take on his father’s crown.

But upon his return, the prince found restlessness in his heart that could not be settled. Not through sparring, or meditation, or serving the needs of his people. Not even by spending time with the local maidens as he had done years ago, before he was told to give up matters of the heart for mastery over the mind. Prince Poo had seen more of the world in a few months than he had in seventeen years of life, and he wanted to see more.

And so he did.

\-----------

For a year, Poo travelled across the world. He only used PSI Teleport twice, aside from reaching Scaraba and hiring a ship and crew to travel across the sea. Anything else would have felt like cheating, and traveling the slow way only meant there was more to see.

The first stage of the journey was south, along the coast of Chommo. They reached the small archipelago at the tip of the continent, and saw orbs of psychic energy that danced upon the masts and the deck. The travelers began to dance along, entranced, until the sight of a seagull being hypnotized and crashing into the cliff face brought Poo to his senses. He managed to resist any more of the wisp’s influence, and steered the ship away from the rocks just in time.

Continuing east into the widest part of the ocean, Poo encountered numerous island chains and the seafaring tribes who lived on them. Some were friendly, some less so, and after five or six uncomfortable encounters the crew learned to tell which were which.

\-----------

The next major stop was the continent of Mistia. While the crew remained in the costal cities to resupply and relax, Poo ventured inland to pay respects to the original inhabitants. As they talked amid bonfires and exchanging of gifts, the prince learned of a land hidden to all but a select few, one that held a great and terrible power beneath its surface.

Intrigued, but knowing that sailing out with his crew was too great a risk, the trips there and back were the only times Poo broke his self-imposed rule of no teleportation.

It took around a week to explore the island chain. He scaled the mountains, explored the forests, braved the thick jungles, and even encountered a separate group of Mr. Saturn who had taken refuge within the caverns. He met with the seven who guarded the land against intruders, and upon proving he meant no threat, learned about the Dark Dragon and its prophecy.

It took five seconds to mishear some crucial advice about what one could and could not eat on Tanetane Island, and two days nauseous and hallucinating from mushroom stew to forget everything he had learned.

It took nearly all his funds to stop reporters and crew alike from spreading rumours about Dalaam’s crown prince returning to Mistia stark naked and ranting about clams.

\-----------

While the ship was stocked and repaired enough to make it safely across the remainder of the ocean, Poo’s sudden lack of money meant that he was forced to disband the crew upon arriving at Eagleland’s west coast. Not that he minded; after months at sea he was looking forward to the chance to stretch his legs. But as luck would have it he had arrived at the start of summer vacation, and Ness and Paula were there to greet him with round-trip bus tickets and the permission of their parents.

By the time the three had reached Twoson they were talking as though they never parted, touring the sanctuary spots Poo had missed by arriving so late into their journey. He had never seen Eagleland when it wasn’t being invaded by Giygas, and the warmth and renewed energy in the land proved a great reminder of what they had done, how many people they had saved from the monster’s wrath.

Jeff had claimed to be too busy catching up with his studies to spend time with them, but the Sky Runner waiting on the east coast with Winters as a preprogrammed destination said otherwise.

The four friends spent the next month on the shores of Lake Tess, sharing stories and catching up with what everyone had been doing after the war. But soon the summer had ended, and everyone except Poo had to return to their schools and their lives. He was sad to have to leave his younger friends again, but at the same time ready to move on and complete his long journey.

Though he did make a point of congratulating Jeff and Tony, much to their embarrassment.

\-----------

Choosing to walk for another month all the way to Summers, Poo later admitted, may not have been the wisest choice, but the exercise felt good after all the time spent on ships, buses, and flying machines. With no money there were times where foul weather caused him to rely on the kindness of strangers, and at a few points even had to accept kindness offered to him. He made a note of those who aided him, remembering to send them gifts upon his return home.

As for Summers itself, between the reporters hounding him and every cultural center wanting the prince to make an appearance Poo was almost wishing for more of those island mushrooms. Almost.

He felt it poetic and entirely appropriate that the final leg of his trip be the voyage that had him join the war against Giygas: a boat trip down to Scaraba. Upon arriving back at port this time, however, Poo was received by the region’s king and offered a month-long stay at the palace before returning to Dalaam.

Poo was happy to oblige, though he found he was happier to meet the king’s youngest daughter, Princess Sabah.

A month after returning home, a chance for Sabah to visit Dalaam was arranged. Within two more years, all the arrangements were made and the wedding date was set: the same day Prince Puushhadantabhide would ascend to the throne and become king. Maybe it was a little over the top, but it meant saving his friends a trip.

Even if being the actual ruler of a country still didn’t stop Ness and the others from laughing about his name, Poo appreciated their presence at his wedding and coronation all the same.

\-----------

Six months of happiness later, the doctors came to his throne. They told the king that something was wrong; the child was coming too soon, body twisted around, skin the wrong colour. They said that his wife would live, but for the infant… there was only one kindness available.

The last time Poo cried was as a young boy, when he was starting psychic training and forced to spend the night alone for the first time. The closest he had come since then was the aftermath of Giygas’ defeat, and that had been in relief, the joy of surviving what could not be survived. He sobbed, now, as he held his wife and they both held their son for the first and last time, knowing their child had gone to where even the strongest PSI could not reach.

It took two more years to try again, and even so the declaration of twins came with more fear than joy. Queen Sabah put on a brave face, trying to convince herself that all would be well. But as soon as Poo heard cries of labour and sensed his wife’s pain he was at her side and holding her hand, praying to any ancestors who would listen to please, please, save his family.

He would give his body, his mind, even his kingdom. He would face Giygas alone and powerless, like in his deepest nightmares. But please, do not break his heart again.

The first twin was a girl the queen named Bahiti, for fortune. She arrived into the world loud and healthy, already demanding her dues as crown princess. The second was a son, and Poo’s face grew pale as he heard no cries and saw the blue in the infant’s cheeks. But the doctor gave a slap, and another, and no couple in the world had ever been so happy to hear a child scream.

They named him Dachen, for great joy.

\-----------

The night Dr Andonuts was kidnapped, Poo was dreaming. He was seventeen again, undergoing his final test for Mu training, but at the same time he was the spirit placing the child below through the trial. He methodically tore his own body apart until only the mind remained, encased that in steel and electricity, then sent it out against a storm of evil. Unlike his actual training, his mind did not return.

He stood among a field of sunflowers. Around him, his ancestors whispered in a tongue he could not understand, not until the dragon roared and the world fell apart and he floated alone through the darkness, like he had all those years ago when he was told to surrender his body and soul.

King Poo woke, remembering all that he had forgotten while on Tanetane island, and knew what he must do.

First he contacted Ness, already long awake on the other side of the world, and told him to pass the Franklin Badge down through his family no matter what. Then when Fourside’s police department announced they would lead an investigation, he offered any and all support his nation could bring to the table. Finally he called Jeff and invited him to stay in Dalaam for a while, preventing despair from consuming his dear friend once again.

His ancestors had revealed the future, and he could see it all so clearly. Poo knew his kingdom would fall, the world would be overcome by darkness, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. But he also knew his wife and children needed him, as did his friends, and the only way for the planet’s rebirth to take place was through love and family and forgiveness.

For here and now, they were alive, and to admit defeat would disgrace the world he had fought for and grown to love.

\-----------

And when he dreamed of Jeff’s father returning, Poo was there almost before he had woken up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple headcanon notes here:  
> 1) According to the Wiki Poo is around 17 compared to the 11-13 of the other three kids, and I like the mental image too much to not keep it.  
> 2) Puushhadantabhide is a Sanskrit name meaning "breaker of sun's tooth." Similar to the headcanon on his age, I like to think that Poo is just a shortened version of his full name, and this is both long enough for a preteen kid to have trouble pronouncing and awesome enough to name a crown prince. Honestly I was hoping for a specifically Tibetan name to use, but since Dalaam apparently takes from a few other cultures I hope this is okay.  
> 3) Mistia is pretty much an Australia expy, named since... yanno, it would have been colonized by Foggyland and all.  
> 4) I just thought a guy as stoic as Poo tripping out on mushrooms was funny, okay?


	4. The Leader

The first thing Ness did was sleep. He hadn’t remembered his home to be so warm or his bed so comfortable, and after all that had happened part of him was afraid of never being able to close his eyes again. But once he had escorted Paula back home and entered his own house, all the young boy could feel was tired.

When he wasn’t sleeping, Ness spent his first week after the war up on the hill where the meteorite had fallen and his journey had begun. Had it really been less then a year? Was it only a few months ago that he had been told about Giygas, and his destiny, and faced mortal danger for the first time in his life?

He was still there the night his father returned home, causing Tracy to come and tell Ness that she’d eat his share of birthday cake if he didn’t stop moping and join them for dinner.

\-----------

A month later Ness was woken up by the sound of frantic knocking, and for a moment it was the night the meteorite fell all over again. But when he opened the door and saw Picky with a note from his older brother, with no idea how it got there, it took two days of lectures from Jeff and Dr. Andonuts to convince Ness that there was no way to chase after Pokey with their current technology. Even if they had a way to safely travel through time, it would be a fool’s errand with no way to know where – or when – he was.

Pokey Minch became Ness’ one failure in a sea of victory. If he had stood up to his neighbor’s parents… if he had said something sooner back in Happy Happy village, forgave Pokey instead of standing there like an idiot, would Pokey still have joined Giygas or interfere with the prophecy? Could he have been saved?

No. The damage had been done, and there was nothing Ness could do to change that fact. The note was eventually thrown out; a reminder of a friend who was only a friend by virtue of being neighbors, and now not even that.

As the only way he could think to make up for it, Ness started hanging out with Picky more often. It was mostly time spent at the arcade playing games and occasionally talking, but after all that had happened between their families it was the least he could do.

\-----------

Ness’ listlessness started to worry his mother, as she started to press her son on whether or not he was feeling okay. He didn’t mind, after all it was a mother’s job to be worried, but it was just… weird, to be living a normal life after everything that had happened. He had found his sanctuaries and defeated his own inner evil, but the way everyone talked it was as though they expected him to be an emotional wreck.

But the only dark thoughts in his head were guilt, both over not saving Pokey and watching Jeff almost destroy himself. And as the years passed his time with Picky buried the former and giving Jeff the support he needed redeemed the latter.

Even his deepest fear of losing control of his powers proved impossible; the power of the sanctuaries weren’t constant, but instead something that was there when he needed them and gone as soon as he didn’t. Within a couple more years, it was hard to remember Ness as being anything more than a normal, content, and well-adjusted young man.

\-----------

On graduating high school, Ness realized that being normal was exactly the problem. With Giygas gone there was no need to fight anymore. A life of peace lay ahead of him, and he had no idea what to do with it. How could he? What could possibly top gaining godlike powers and saving the world before your fourteenth birthday?

With no path to follow aside from wanting to do something with his life, Ness spent the next couple years trying out anything that sounded even vaguely interesting. He joined groups, took courses, and signed up for training sessions, but even childhood dreams of baseball fame and rock stardom felt empty.

It was a Saturday afternoon in the arcade with Picky that provided an answer. The younger child of the Minch family mentioned that he was struggling with his novel study, and having read the book a couple years back Ness agreed to discuss it with him over pizza. From that study session spawned long nights looking over his neighbor’s homework, instructing Picky on the parts he couldn’t understand and was too afraid to ask his parents about. It was challenging, but Ness found it was also satisfying to see his guidance helping the younger boy.

When Picky was appointed valedictorian of his class Ness was the first person he called. And on hearing Picky’s graduating speech thanking him specifically, the savior of the world realized that he wanted to be a teacher more than anything.

\-----------

Where school had been a dull blur before, it was now a challenge to rival his old adventures as Ness dove headfirst into studying. He found chances for extra credits, traded summer vacation and free evenings for more classes, and generally worked to make up for lost time and complete his degree as soon as possible. 

He learned about the world he had fought so hard for and all the different ways he could pass that knowledge to others, and in the process regained a deep love for the places and people who had saved him and his friends in their darkest hour.

He realized just how much of that love was for Paula herself. And when she asked him to marry her… well. For a split-second the powers of the sanctuaries turned on and Ness saw back into the past of their lives up until they first met and he saw how they moved into the present running alongside each other and weaving with the threads of every friend they made and he could see their entire future stretched out into the distance.

It wasn’t all good, or all bad. But it was there.

And who could say no to something like that?

\-----------

Within a year after finishing as a teaching assistant, Mr. Polestar was one of the most popular teachers at Fourside South high school.

Let his sister keep the family name: she was hard at work running her new travel agency, and deserved all the prestige she could get. His job was to teach history, and sometimes physical education, and look after the well being of any kids who walked through his door. It was the last thing anyone who knew Ness as a child would have expected, but there was no denying the happiness on his face.

He always kept an eye on the students, even the ones he never taught, and took note of the ones who came to school tired, or hungry, or with bruises that weren't from any sport (and how could he not? He had seen what happened to those kids firsthand, watched helplessly as the one person he couldn't save rejected humanity and laughed into the void). You could be walking down the hall, trying not to think of what you planned to do when you got home, when around the next corner- oh! Mr. Polestar was right there, and what perfect timing!

He noticed you were struggling with that last essay and wanted to discuss extra credit, and by the way he had a long talk with those bullies and they won't be calling you that horrid name any more. In fact, a good friend of his faced many of your same problems and now he's married to a loving husband…

\-----------

Selling their story was actually Tracy’s idea; having an official publication of the events of the War would allow for them to authorize what could and couldn’t be released, and it would mean only speaking to one media group instead of all of them. It worked out in the end, though the eventual film adaptation was nothing more than an easy laugh during the chosen four’s next reunion.

\-----------

When his best friend’s father went missing, Ness already knew who the culprit was. Guilt long-hidden started to resurface, and it was almost enough to send Ness after Pokey once and for all. And if it hadn’t been for King Poo contacting him and telling him to keep the Franklin Badge safe, to watch over his family… maybe Ness would have gone.

But he thought of Paula, working herself to the bone in search of evidence linking Pokey to the kidnappings. Jeff, struggling against darkness they thought he had conquered long ago. Poo, summoning his kingdom’s resources to search for answers, finding a way to map and stop the rifts. His students, trading fears and rumours as easily as they traded cards. And his own daughter, already too skilled in PSI for her own good, taking in everyone’s fear and anxiety without knowing how to cope.

Ness gritted his teeth, and turned his back on Pokey Minch one last time. He had a world to hold together.

\-----------

Giygas had only been one threat, and the rifts were opening up across all of time and space. It was constant work, and even with the power of the Sanctuaries it took over half a year for the response team to properly predict when and where a rift would appear. Every failed rescue during that time was a stab to Ness’ heart, but eventually things seemed to stabilize to the point where all Ness had to do was show up the day before. He became more of a figurehead than a savior, but he found that he really didn’t mind.

It meant more time properly teaching his daughter about healing PSI, how to summon your deepest passions for strength, how to separate your thoughts to those of the surrounding crowd. It meant being there for his students, assuring them that they had nothing to fear now that he was on the case.

It meant being a fixed point for Paula, and making sure that she got enough sleep no matter when that happened. Being there in the middle of the night when their dreams were at their worst, holding her without any words needing to be spoken or thought. Leaving a spot on the bed open for their daughter so all three could sleep embracing each other, blinds open for when the sun would come up and remind them what they were fighting for.

\-----------

Two years after the start of the rifts, Ness had a dream of his own. He was in a field of sunflowers, stretching in every direction as far as he could see. In the distance was a hill, and upon getting close enough he saw a young boy as old as Ness had been when he saw the meteor so long ago. Ness remembered climbing up the hill, introducing himself and finding that he sounded – and looked – like a child again.

The boy turned around, and when their eyes met Ness remembered sensing a huge power within this other figure, something that made the power of the sanctuaries almost rise up in kind. But instead he forced it down, smiled softly, and asked the boy’s name.

They talked, mostly. Ness forgot what it was about immediately after he woke, but after what felt like a lifetime of sharing stories, laughing, and more crying than probably either child would be proud to admit, the two of them knew it was time to part. The last thing Ness saw before everything vanished was the badge on the other boy’s shirt, a white one with a lightning bolt engraved on it, and when he woke up next to his wife and daughter he knew was that everything would be okay.

And it was. Kidnapped victims began returning, one by one, and while disappearances still went on the time between them vanishing and arriving back grew shorter and shorter. Whatever had attempted to tear the world apart was weakening, and the lives of the four heroes settled down to their own definitions of normal once again.

Perhaps everything would end. Perhaps there would always be things they would regret, tragedies that would be inevitable. But here and now, they were alive.  
\-----------

On learning of Dr. Andonuts’ return, the four friends were all there for when the rift opened. But for Ness, it was also the chance to finally settle his one childhood regret.

He couldn’t forgive Pokey, in the end. The boy had done too much, fallen too far, and even if he could hear Ness’ words it wouldn’t change anything. But Ness could still apologize for failing to stop him.

And that day on the shore of Lake Tess, he found that he could finally forgive himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's something appealing to me about the most powerful character in the party having the most ordinary life in the end, and I have my own theory that Ness' quest for the sanctuaries were primarily about making sure he could withstand their power, and then protecting the team long enough for Paula to deal the final blow. Makes being a teacher appropriate, I think.
> 
> This is the final chapter of the fic, and I really appreciate everyone who's left comments/kudos or will in the future! Personally I found I like these ideas too much to just leave them, so I may do more with them in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> This story began with wondering just how 'normal' Paula's life would be after the war, and kind of exploded from there into a four-part "where are they now" fanfic. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it!


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